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DB Coach Horton off to Hou as DC?

The Pittsburgh Steelers' coaching staff has experienced significant comings and goings in the offseason, and the movement is not complete. Thursday's rumor du jour involves defensive backs coach Ray Horton, who is a candidate for the defensive coordinator job at the University of Houston.

Horton, who played in the NFL from 1983-92 with Cincinnati and Dallas, joined the Steelers staff in 2004 as the assistant DB coach. He was retained from the Cowher staff and promoted to defensive backs coach by Mike Tomlin in 2007.

Horton broke into the coaching ranks as assistant DB coach for the Redskins from 1994-96, where he worked with Hall of Famer Darrell Green. He was the Bengals' DB coach from 1997-2001, and the Lions' secondary coach in 2002 and 2003.

Without Troy Polamalu for most of the 2009 season, Horton's unit seemed much less spectacular than in previous years. His corners had a total of two interceptions, and his safeties not named Polamalu had a total of five. The Steelers ranked 16th in pass defense last season, a number that seems destined to improve in 2010. It is my opinion that the improvement depends more on a certain player returning to the lineup more than the position coaches instructing him. Having him around makes a lot of coaches look better.

Definitely not the worst loss we could suffer this offseason. Horton and his secondary were pathetic this year; they were exposed without Troy in there to pick up the slack. I realize your group will suffer without your best player, but still all the rest of the guys should have stepped up and they clearly were not up to the task. That reflects on the preparation as well as the players execution on the field. Lebeau put them in a position to be successful just being in this defense but clearly when you can't catch an INT right in your hands, and you can't tackle, it's time for a change all around.

Im alright with coaches being replaced... However, if you want changes in the coaching staff, you have to get better coaches than you had. I have yet to see Steelers bring in any coaches that i was really excited about this year, despite having lots of chances to do so...

However much you think you know about football, rest assured that Skip Bayless knows more!

Let's just hope that come draft time and before that, free agency, that the front office takes serious measures to sure up that defensive backfield. Coaches can come and go, and God knows our DB's were horrific this year, so there needs to be change all around...some new blood in the mix would definitely do us well. Lebeau will have a big hand in deciding who is brought onto his staff to coach the secondary so I have faith in him from that perspective.